Town Boy, Island Boy
by duckie lover 151
Summary: Twins Roxas and Sora have never met... until now when, after the death of his father, Roxas is forced to move to Destiny Island to live with a mother he's never met and brother he never knew he had.
1. The Journey

**Good morning, Fanfictioners!**

**Welcome to the first chapter of my very first Kingdom Hearts story. (: As I'm still playing the games, I'm kind of still testing the waters for this fandom. (In regards to writing stories for it.) **

**And yes, the title is an awful play on the 'The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse' (which I don't own either)**

**The other thing that I should warn you about is that I'm a slow updater. Especially so in this case as I haven't gotten through all the games yet. So if you like this, I suggest you put it on alert or whatever because I can't guarantee when chapter two will come out. Well, now that all that dreary business is done, off we go! (:**

**Chapter One**

"That is so cheating!" Sora cried as Riku reached the destination seconds before he did. He looked to Kairi for assistance, but she could only shrug.

"I did say you could take whatever route you wanted," she confirmed. Riku sealed his official victory with a smug smirk. With a scowl, Sora conceded to defeat.

It was another sunny day on Destiny Islands. The three close friends were together, as was the usual. However, unbeknownst to them, today was to be exceptionally memorable.

Sora looked back out over their race course. Riku was faster, so in order for him to have any chance at all of winning, Sora had to take a higher road- literally. Running above Riku's well-beaten path was an old bridge. It was missing planks in quite a few places, but it had always served him well. Until now anyway, when a piece he was sure had been perfectly attached yesterday had suddenly given way today. He glared at the traitorous board of wood that now lay in the sand. He was sure Riku had had something to do with it, but there was no way to prove it.

"Fine," he said, turning back to the silver-haired boy. "You win. What do you want to do today?"

Riku opened his mouth, but he didn't get a chance to reply, for at that moment Kairi spotted something and waved, beaming.

"Namine!" she called. "Come on over!"

"I don't think I will," the other girl called back, looking none too pleased with the situation. She was perched precariously on the edge of the tunnel that connected the two sides of the island.

Namine was a strange girl. Sora thought so anyway. Not strange in a bad way, just… strange. The pale blond girl was rarely seen outside the mayor's house. She preferred to spend her time inside reading or drawing instead of frolicking out by the ocean like the rest of Destiny Island's younger residents. 'I'm not a creature of sunlight,' she'd said to him once.

"Sora," she called now. "Your mom's looking for you."

"All right," he called back, feeling none too upset over having to stall Riku's victory decision. "I'll see you guys later."

"When will you be home?" she asked, this time addressing Kairi who shrugged.

"I don't know. Later," she mended. "In time for dinner."

Satisfied with this answer, Namine nodded and turned away from them. Kairi and Namine weren't actually sisters, but they might as well have been. In truth, Kairi had washed up on the shore of the island as a young child- nearly ten years ago now. No one knew where she'd come from, and Kairi herself couldn't remember any place she had to return to. She hadn't been in the best shape when they'd first found her, but, to the surprise of everyone, she hadn't grown up to be a sickly child. On the contrary, she usually had more energy than her adoptive sister. It hadn't been long after her recovery that she'd begun chasing after the two boys.

Sora smiled fondly at the memory. At first Riku had tried to convince him that girls had cooties, but he'd soon taken to her as well. Kairi was one of those people that made friends wherever they went. It was hard not to like her.

"Hey, Namine," he said, coming back to the present. "Do you know why my mom wants to see me?" Nothing in his mental database came up when searching for reasons he may be in trouble. Hell, he'd even cleaned his room yesterday!

The mayor's daughter shook her head. "She didn't say." She paused then added, "She looked okay, but I could tell something was wrong."

Sora took her word for it. Whatever else she may be, Namine was perhaps the most intuitive person he knew.

Once the two reached the other side of the tunnel, Sora could see his mother a ways away, outside their house, up to her ankles in the ocean.

"See you later, Namine!" he called as they parted ways. She nodded in response, looking contemplative, but as he'd already rushed off, he didn't see it.

As Sora drew closer, he could see that his mother's hair was being held back with a clip she'd fashioned out of a seashell. He smiled in spite of himself. Kairi loved seashells. She'd spent countless hours on the beach, collecting them with his mother though Riku and Sora himself tired quickly of such activities. On more than one occasion Sora had wondered if his mother would have preferred having a daughter. Someone who could sit still and would actually listen to _all _her directions before rushing off to the task at hand.

His curiosity chased the thought away as he hurried across the sand to meet her. She looked up as he neared. Kagiana Shinzo smiled at her son, but her eyes were sad and her face was pale. Sora stopped, the first strings of worry knotting in his stomach.

"Mom? What's wrong?"

"Honey…" her voice trailed off. She looked pained. For once in his life, Sora was patient as she worked to find words. "Let's go somewhere we can talk, okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Sora knew immediately where he was leading her as soon as they started walking. A tiny plot of land- it could just barely be called its own island- was settled just off the shore of Destiny Islands. He and Riku were its most frequent visitors, choosing to use it for swordfighting practice. Just as he'd hoped, they had no other company than the ocean breeze.

They sat with their legs dangling over the edge, completely silent for as long as Sora could bear it. Which, admittedly, wasn't long.

"What's going on, Mom?"

"Sweetheart, what have I told you about your father?" she asked.

"Not much," he answered honestly, no less confused.

"Well, I suppose I'd better start at the beginning then," she said with the air of one who didn't seem to expect to enjoy the story any more the second time around.

"I met your father when I was a little girl," she began. "We grew up together here on Destiny Islands. We spent our entire childhood with our parents pushing us together. To be honest, I was a little too wrapped up in myself when I was younger to take any serious notice of Takao Shinzo. Though the rest of the island wasn't nearly as impaired as I was. He was athletic, good-looking. He was also just a tad bit arrogant, but he was charming enough for everyone to ignore that." She paused in her storytelling. "He looked a lot like you actually," Kagiana said fondly.

Sora had figured. His mother's hair was long, straight, and yellow-blond in color although it had gotten a bit darker as she'd gotten older. They had the same deep blue eyes though. Her son refrained from any commenting so she could continue.

"I only really started looking at your father when I was seventeen. And then… we fell in love," she said as if such a thing could really be so simple.

"And a year later you had me," Sora chimed in; this was the part of the story he _had _been told.

"Yes…" said his mother slowly. "The next July I gave birth… to twin boys."

For a moment Sora just stared at her, not fully comprehending what this meant. "What?"

"We named the two of you Sora and Roxas," she continued as if he had not spoken. "We felt the names complimented each other. Unfortunately, Takao and I no longer complimented each other. If there was one thing that Takao hadn't lost from his glory days it was that he dreamed big. He said that the air here was stifling- he had to get off this island. I refused to leave. This was my home. I couldn't understand how he could just leave everything he'd ever known behind. In the end, there was no dissuading him. I stayed behind, and Takao took off for the mainland with Roxas. We meant to set up visits. I wanted you to know your father as much as I wanted to know my other son, but we just… lost touch. In the end, neither of us had the munny to make frequent trips to and from the mainland."

There was silence. Sora's head was spinning.

"So why are you telling me this now?" he finally got out. He couldn't explain the hard quality to his tone. He'd wondered about his dad his while life. Until his mother had told him otherwise he'd let his mind be entertained by all sorts of fantasies. Maybe he was dead. Maybe he was a king to some foreign, unheard of country. Maybe he was just another dead-beat dad. She told him _now _that he'd been living on the mainland all this time?

_Of course, the mainland is still farther than you think,_ he told himself. His father, and now his brother too, were just as unreachable as they'd been before. His mother lovingly ran a hand through his untamable hair and he let her.

Then she took a deep breath and said, "This morning I got a letter from a woman on the mainland informing me that Takao was dead… and that your brother was being sent over on the next supply ship tomorrow to come live with us."

…

Roxas sighed desolately. "I don't want to leave Twilight Town."

"I don't want you to leave Twilight Town," said Axel from where he sat at his desk.

Roxas was lying on Axel's bedroom floor, watching the ceiling fan twirling around indefinitely. It would most likely never see the outside of this room, stuck in one spot forever- until the house was one day demolished. Roxas wondered, was is bad to be jealous of a ceiling fan?

It was weird to think that not even a week ago he and Axel and Xion had been in this very room, celebrating his fourteenth birthday. He'd said his tearful goodbyes to Xion the day before, but he couldn't bring himself to cry now. Scratch that, he wouldn't _allow_ himself to cry now.

As much as he loved his best friend, Roxas was only here because he couldn't stand to stay in his empty house. Axel had gone over that morning and packed up all his things.

Roxas kicked over the suitcase from where it sat by his foot. It fell over with a hearty thump, but it didn't burst open and magically restore his life to order like in some fairytale.

"Roxas… about your dad…" Axel let his voice trail off. Rarely had Roxas ever heard his friend's voice so gentle, but he shut him down all the same.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Axel didn't push any further and an hour later Roxas was looking down on all his friends from Twilight Town who'd come to see him off from where he stood on the deck of the boat that was gearing up to take him off to his own personal hell. _Think of this as a new beginning, _he'd been told more than once already. _Not everyone gets a chance to start over._

_But I don't _want _to start over, _he thought desperately as he watched his friends fade away. As he lost sight of Twilight Town, his remaining hope flew away on the ocean breeze. He was leaving the old Roxas Shinzo behind in Twilight Town. To be honest, he wasn't quite sure who it was that would be arriving on Destiny Island but it sure didn't feel like him.

Hours later, he was gripping the railing tightly, trying not to look at the waves that were rocking the boat so violently. There was a reason a boat only came around for supplies once a month- the waters around Destiny Island were hard to navigate, and they certainly weren't going easy on the boy who'd only made this journey once before in his life. It was almost a relief to see the shore come into view.

However, no sooner had he stepped off the boat there was a boy with wild brown hair and blue eyes identical to his own in his face. In no less than six seconds he was informed that this boy was Sora and that the blond woman standing behind him was his mother- their mother. Roxas wasn't sure if he said anything- he was too dazed by all the excitement to really grasp what was going on. He was led through a crowd of blurred voices and faces that had come to welcome him.

Eventually he became aware that the crowd had narrowed down to just the three of them. His familiy (the word didn't sound right in his mind) was leading him across the beach. The boy- Sora- was chattering away excitedly, but Roxas didn't hear a word he was saying. Was this really just like some big party for him?

At last they reached a cottage (Roxas wasn't sure it could truly be called a house) a little ways away from the rest of Destiny Islands' inhabitants. He turned down their offer of dinner and opted to be shown to his new room. Once there, Roxas threw his suitcase on the floor and flopped down on the bed.

Here, finally alone in the darkness, Roxas would have let a few tears slip through, if only he hadn't been certain the feeling would actually make him sick.

**Review please!**

**Wow, this first chapter is probably going to be the longest in the whole story. I'm not sure if I should feel guilty about that or not…**

**I'm sure this story idea isn't terribly original, but I got the urge to write it anyway. (: At least I can truthfully say that I haven't read a KH story with this exact plot so I can be sure that all of this is coming from my own mind.**

**I own nothing. **


	2. Day One

**Apparently, I lied… Not only is this chapter up sooner than I'd expected, I'm pretty sure it's longer than the last one too! I hate to get anyone's hopes up, but… well, there you go.**

**Chapter Two**

For one blissful moment, Roxas had actually thought he was waking up in his own house in Twilight Town. There was a brief period of disorientation as he took in the bland, unfamiliar white walls and was forced to remember where he was. With a groan, Roxas let his head fall back to the pillow. It was going to be a long day. _One of many, _he reminded himself.

The blond boy wasn't sure how long he permitted himself to simply lie there. The sun was high in the sky when he finally dragged himself out of bed.

Roxas crept out of the room, feeling even more strongly that he didn't belong here. He descended the stairs one at a time, as quietly as he could. _What are you being so cautious for? It's not like they're going to come at you with a knife if you wake them up. _Even this logic, however, did nothing to quicken his pace.

He easily found the kitchen and began exploring. Roxas went through the cupboards one by one, feeling more lost when he was done than he had when he'd started. It would take him forever to remember where all this was!

Roxas jumped and whirled around when he heard someone walk into the kitchen behind him. It was Sora. The other boy didn't seem to notce his brother's reaction. Still appearing half-asleep, the brunet yawned and rubbed at his eye.

"Hey, Roxas," he said groggily, plopping down in a chair at the table. "You're up early." He rested his chin upon his arms which sat on the tabletop.

Amused, Roxas's features resisted a smirk and he glanced at the clock above the fridge. Early? It was already 9:30. Clearly the boy was not a morning person. _Not 'the boy', _he berated himself silently, _your brother- Sora. _

Roxas chose not to say anything as he finally found something for breakfast. He grabbed the bag of bagels from the counter and spun around the room in circled until he spotted the toaster as well.

Sora picked his head up just long enough to ask, "Could you make me one too?"

Roxas raised his eyebrows at this request (which Sora couldn't see anyway as his back was to his brother) but did as he asked. He sighed, feeling like a host that was entertaining guests in a house that was not his and figured that if he was going to make breakfast for both his brother and himself, he may as well do a thorough job.

"What do you want on it?" he asked.

"Cream cheese and peanut butter," Sora requested.

This gave Roxas pause. Never in his whole life had he known someone to eat a bagel with both cream cheese _and_ peanut butter other than himself. How many times had Axel or Xion looked over to tell him how disgusting that was only to receive little more than a shrug in response? He fought down the urge to turn and stare at Sora, as if the other boy was somehow testing him. The bagels popped and Roxas opened the fridge where, oddly enough, the peanut butter was sitting beside the cream cheese on a shelf. Oh well, maybe it was just an island thing.

His brother seemed to brighten considerably once he had his food in front of him. Soon he was babbling about his plans that day with Riku and Kairi. He declined the offer to join and decided that he preferred his brother as a zombie.

No sooner had the last bit of bagel been crammed into Sora's mouth, he was off, slamming the door behind him. His twin sighed (he found he was doing a lot of that lately) and picked up Sora's forgotten plate. He planned on making sure this would not become routine. As he set the two plates in the sink, Roxas glanced out the window and saw Sora standing outside with a boy and a girl.

Reminded strongly of Axel and Xion, Roxas felt a sharp pang in his chest for the life he'd left behind. This only faded when he heard his mother's footsteps heading to the kitchen from the back of the house where her room was. Wishing to avoid this second confrontation, Roxas stealthily slipped from the room and back up the stairs.

…

Namine sat in the big window of the second floor of their library. Drawing pad and pencil in hand, she stared out at the view below her. Maybe some would find it boring to sit at the same window, drawing the same scene every day, but that was just it - it wasn't the same scene. Every morning that dawned brought on a new cast of characters- a new picture. The light didn't set the same way every single day, and Namine tended to single out her subjects anyway. Some found it boring, but Namine was content.

She had been staring out at the waves rolling in for some time when she heard voices and set her sights a little closer to home. Just below her window stood Sora, Kairi, and Riku. Namine saw them all so often, she suspected she'd become immune to their influence on the other islanders, but today, she took the time to really look at them like she hadn't in a long time.

Riku had aged nicely, she couldn't help noticing. The older boy was both wiry and muscular. He could be intense, but she rarely saw him angry. There was something about him that just carried the essence of cool. She would see girls practically swooning over him periodically, but Riku's attractiveness was something she only ever noticed in passing.

Her sister was as radiant as ever. Kairi had always had a certain glow to her. Namine loved to try capturing it into her paintings. Of course, she didn't often get the chance as the other girl was always off doing something.

Which left Sora. In comparison to the other two, he looked even younger. Still, there was something so undeniably bright about him. He smiled so often… she could understand why her sister was fostering a crush on the boy.

A knock on the door startled her from her observations. None of the three below her had moved so… had her father forgotten his keys again? Funny… she was positive he'd left it unlocked.

"It's open!" she called down. Even her quiet voice carried in the silent library. She heard the door creak as it only did when opened slowly.

"Hello?" a male voice she didn't recognize called.

…

Hours later, Roxas had unpacked and carefully placed everything around his new room, but the sun was still high in the sky. He wasn't sure why he was so keen to avoid the woman downstairs- his mother- but it turned out he didn't have a choice in the matter. He heard his mother climbing the stairs and a second later she was in his doorway. He turned from where he stood, surveying the room. Even with everything unpacked, it still didn't feel like home.

He watched her as she swept her eyes across what had been their guest room just 24 hours ago. It was almost frightening how alike they looked. Roxas was slowly getting over the shock of seeing his eyes in a face that looked exactly like his own on his brother. On this woman, it was just bizarrre. Add in their similar hair color and he couldn't stop staring.

_My father's hair looked just like yours. Mine kind of just grew in every which way. _His father's laugh rang in his ears. Roxas bit the inside of his cheek. Hard. The pain drove away the memories.

Here, in this time, a chuckle escaped from his mother's lips. "This is a welcome change," she said. "Sora would've been living out of his suitcase for weeks!"

Roxas looked away and shrugged. A part of him was making his rudeness obnoxiously clear. A bigger part wasn't ready to play nice just yet.

His mother had ventured further into his room and had laid a hand on his wall. "Maybe it's a little late now that you've already unpacked everything, but you could repaint in here if you'd like. I'm sure the mayor has some paint in storage at his house.

To be honest, Roxas wasn't terribly perturbed at the idea of having white walls, but he suspected he wasn't imagining her hints at coaxing him out of the house. He had no real desire to stay inside anyway. Of course, he didn't particularly want to go out either. But making that choice was inevitable.

"I'll go see." His own voice sounded foreign to him. His thoughts were so strong- were those three and a half words really the only ones he'd spoken to her since his arrival?

Roxas quickly ducked out of the doorway, trying to pretend he didn't see the loving look Kagiana had given him.

…

Luckily, somewhere between the story of his seventh birthday party and the story of the time he and Riku had planned to explore the world via raft, Sora had gone off on a tangent about Kairi. While he wasn't nearly as fascinated by the girl as his brother, Roxas had been interested in the story of her arrival. The bits and pieces of Sora's rambling that Roxas had listened to that morning were especially helpful now, as he'd also been informed that she lived with the mayor who owned the biggest house on Destiny Islands. It wasn't too hard to find.

Considering the size of the island, Roxas hadn't been expecting much, but the mayor's house was impressive. More like a mansion, really. After pausing a moment to admire its grandeur, he swung the seashell-shaped knocker.

"It's open!" he heard a faint voice call from within. Were the islanders really that trusting? Cautiously, he pushed open the large door, wincing at the creak it made.

Roxas's jaw dropped in an almost comical way. This place was huge! He seemed to have walked into a giant library of sorts.

Recovering from his shock, he called out, "Hello?"

He soon heard footsteps and the next minute a girl was walking down the steps from a second floor, come to greet him.

Roxas could do little more than stare. She was pale with big blue eyes and long blond hair. She didn't have any shoes on at the moment and her dress was the color of snow. Roxas wouldn't have been surprised to see wings sprouting from her back. Frankly, she was the most angelic-looking person he'd ever seen.

"Oh," she said uncertainly when she saw him, bringing a hand to her heart. "I'm sorry… My father's not here at the moment. Can I help you with something?"

_Stop staring at her like an idiot and say something! _he commanded himself silently, breaking the stupor. "Kagiana… um, my mother… sent me here to get paint."

The mayor's daughter looked contemplative for a moment. "Paint for a room? If we have any, it would be upstairs in the storage closet… Come with me."

Roxas had had no intention of doing otherwise and fell into step beside her as they climbed the stairs.

"This is some place you got," he said, if only to try to convince the blond girl that he was admiring something other than herself.

She smiled at him and his stomach fluttered. "Thank you. This used to be our entrance hall, but my father transformed it into a library for me."

When they reached the second floor, she drifted away to the back and Roxas wandered over to the big picture window.

"Hey, you're Kairi's sister, right?"

"Yes," her voice came. "And my name is Namine. You're Sora's brother, right?"

"Yeah. And my name's Roxas."

"Well, Roxas, it's very nice to meet you, though I wish we could be doing this face to face."

Roxas smiled, perhaps for the first time since his arrival, and looked down to see a drawing notebook sitting in the seat. It was open to the beginning sketch of what was already an incredibly realistic-looking palm tree. He could spot the original outside through the window. Roxas picked it up and brought it back to her.

"This is amazing. Did you do this?"

Namine looked up from where she was sitting on the floor of the closet and blushed when she saw what he was holding. "Yes… It's not finished though."

"It's still amazing," he defended.

She smiled and stood, taking the book from him. "From what I can see, we only have black paint. Well, we used to have other colors… but Sora and Kairi were in here a couple weeks ago trying to make _neon_ black paint."

Roxas's cheeks were starting to feel sore from all the smiling. "That's fine. I don't mind black."

She gestured to the closet and he ventured in himself, retreating with the cans of paint. "Thank you." Roxas would have liked to stay longer, but, void of anything else to say, Namine awkwardly walked him to the door.

Ironically, even with the sun shining on his face, the world suddenly didn't seem as bright when he was outside and Namine had already shut the door behind him. He moved to walk back to his house, but stopped when a girl's voice reached his ears.

"Tidus, look! Isn't that Sora's brother?"

"Not so loud, Selphie! He'll hear you."

Too late. Roxas resisted the urge to turn around and stare. Instead, he set the two paint cans he'd taken down on the steps for further investigation. While he scowled at their words, he had to admit he was a little curious about the other islanders' view on him.

"They don't look like twins."

"Maybe they're fraternal," said the girl- Selphie- sounding like this wasn't the point of their conversation anyway. She giggled. "Isn't he handsome?"

"Looks to me like he spends a little too much time styling his hair," Tidus grunted ungenerously.

For the record, he _didn't_ style his hair. At all. Roxas scowled at the direction in which this was going, but they were moving away.

"Besides," Tidus continued. "What about Riku? I've only been hearing you gush about him for, like, forever."

Selphie giggled again. "Oh, don't worry; I'm not giving up on that. Roxas may be handsome, but Riku is absolutely gorgeous! I mean, have you _seen_ his eyes?"

The last thing Roxas heard before their voices faded away completely was a groan from Tidus. Roxas chuckled in spite of himself. He got the feeling the other boy _had_ seen Riku's eyes. Or had at least heard about them. A thousand times over.

The blonde boy picked up the two paint cans (one was half empty and one hadn't been opened) and finally made it off the mayor's front porch. He'd been pleasantly surprised that they'd known his name. He would prefer not to tote around the whole 'Sora's brother' title. But then, this was a small island, he reasoned. News probably travelled fast.

His mother had taken Sora's place at the kitchen table when he walked in. She smiled at him.

"Oh good. You found it all right? You left before I could give you directions." Roxas nodded. She raised her eyebrows when she caught sight of his spoils. "You're going to paint your room black?"

"Not all of it," he answered. An entirely black room was a little much, even for the mood he'd been in lately. Then again, he didn't want his room to look like a zebra… Hmm… This would require some further thought.

Kagiana's eyes were drawn to the kitchen clock. She rose abruptly, startling her son.

"I'm running late! I'll see you later, honey," she said, distractedly grabbing her bag off and table and kissing his cheek before breezing out the door.

For a full minute after she was gone, Roxas didn't move. Then, slowly, he set one can of paint down on the chair, the other on the floor, and brought a hand up to his cheek. Moving just as haltingly, he climbed the stairs one at a time, only to find another surprise.

Everything he'd unpacked had been strewn around his room and standing in the midst of the mess, framed picture of his father in hand, was Sora. In seconds, Roxas had crossed the gap between them and torn the photo from his brother's grasp.

"What the hell are you doing in here? Get out!"

Sora didn't look the least bit concerned at his twin's blatant fury. It wasn't nearly the reaction Roxas had been hoping for.

"Hey, Roxas. I wondered where you were. I was looking for my and Riku's swords. Kairi hid them."

"In _my_ room?" Underneath his anger, Roxas got the feeling that something was wrong with his normally cheerful brother- his voice was a little too dull and distracted. But he ignored this.

"I don't know. I checked everywhere else." Simultaneously, the boys looked around at the mess he'd made. Roxas wondered if every other room in the house looked this much like a war zone. "By the way, do you own anything that isn't black and white?"

"Get out!" Roxas screamed. Sora must have finally seen something in his brother's fuming face because he obliged.

Roxas brought the picture of his father to his furiously-beating heart and fell back onto his bed… Only to shoot back up. Angrily, he snatched the wooden sword out from under his blanket and chucked it out in the hall after his brother.

**Review please! **

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts (Or Final Fantasy, or Disney, or anything else that may have been referenced in the course of this chapter.)**

**I really appreciate all the reviews I've already gotten, and I'm sorry if any of the characters are OOC. Some of them *cough* Roxas *cough* are a little highstrung at the moment.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Outlet

**Chapter Two**

"Sooner or later, he's going to explode."

"What?" Sora looked up, startled out of his reverie by his friend's voice.

"Roxas," Riku clarified. "He can't go around acting like nothing's bothering him forever. At least, I know I couldn't."

"Yeah…" said Sora absently. "I remember that… You almost broke my nose…"

The two boys had been sitting on the beach in silence for nearly an hour. Riku wasn't sure he liked seeing this side of his friend. Sora wasn't supposed to be quiet and contemplative. And Riku wasn't normally one to seek out for comfort, but Kairi wasn't available at the moment.

The older boy cleared his throat and asked a bit awkwardly, "Sora? Is… something wrong?" It was one of the many times that Riku was grateful he and his best friend weren't very alike: he didn't have to do any wheedling to get an answer.

"I saw a picture of my dad in Roxas's room. I really do look just like him…"

Riku let out a long breath, unsure how he was supposed to react. Sora's absent father was something that just did not come up in conversation. Very much like Riku's own parents, which he made a point not to talk about. Ever.

Sora watched, appearing a little dazed, as Riku slowly got to his feet. Sora had been such a good friend to him- had listened when all his problems had finally come out. He wished he could reciprocate this help, but he was really at a loss of what to do. Need he really mention again that he was not cut out to handle situations like these? Luckily, all he really had to do was find someone who _was_… And Sora had never been known to hold on to things anyway.

"Race you to Kairi's house," he offered. He waited for the other boy to get to his feet and then the two took off, leaving their troubles behind in the wind. For now.

…

Roxas was sure that any moment now he was going to lose the ability to breath. Back in Twilight Town, seasalt ice cream had been one of his favorite treats. Now the idea repulsed him. The air here tasted so heavily of salt, he was surprised he didn't see people dropping form heart attacks by the hour.

He'd taken to leaving the door to his room almost permanently closed and the windows shut tight, but the ocean air still seeped through. He only left his room when absolutely necessary, and for the most part, he was left alone to wallow in his own misery.

Okay, maybe that was a little unfair. Sora attempted to include him in something every day, but Roxas always turned him down. Besides, he wasn't in the mood to be fair.

Every day before she left for work, his mother had taken to coming up and looking in on him almost mournfully. She had also taken to calling him "honey." Rarely did he ever actually say anything back to the woman, but he would think cruelly, _I am _not _your son. You don't even know me._

Just a few weeks ago, if he'd been told there would come a time when he spent all day indoors and often didn't leave his bed until after ten, Roxas never would have believed it. Though it seemed to have been forever ago, there was a time when he'd been every shopkeeper in Twilight Town's favorite customer. Vaguely, he wondered if everyone had viewed him as the islanders here seemed to see his eternally cheerful brother.

He'd gotten so used to being left alone that it didn't really register to him that there was someone standing in his doorway until they hadn't moved for at least five minutes. Irritated, he glanced up, ready to tell whoever it was that they were free to go along on their merry way when he caught sight of the girl. He stopped abruptly. It was Namine.

For a moment they just stared at each other. It was impossible to tell who the situation was more awkward for. Namine's mouth had popped open in a perfect O in surprise. She'd quickly looked down and clasped her hands in front of her, cheeks tinged pink at finding him in such a state.

But she couldn't possibly be more painfully aware of his state than Roxas himself. He stared back, looking very much like a deer in the headlights. He was surrounded by an unforgivable mess. Roxas hadn't really bothered to fix the one Sora had made, and now there were dirty clothes spread around the floor as well. He'd dragged himself out of bed yesterday to bathe, but still, his appearance wasn't exactly something to be proud of at the moment.

"I-I'm sorry," she stammered. "I didn't mean to… catch you at a bad time." Her own words seemed to only strengthen the force of her blush.

"Yeah, uh, sorry…" Once again his voice had fallen into that tone of rusty disuse. Roxas cleared his throat and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed to plant his bare feet on the floor. "Um… you can come in if you want," he offered.

She took a few tentative steps further inside and they stood (and sat) in an awkward silence. Finally, she spoke up.

"Um… Sora suggested that you may want some help repainting your room. I helped him with his…" Her voice trailed off.

Somehow, Roxas wasn't surprised. He should have figured his brother was behind this intrusion. However, if he was being completely honest with himself, it wasn't 100 percent unwanted.

There was another minute of silence, but Namine took advantage of this one to look around the room. "There are actually a lot of things we can do with black paint. Oh, but, um… maybe you should get dressed first?"

This time, Roxas was the one with the red face. "Yeah…" She didn't need to be coaxed out. As soon as she was gone with the door shut safely behind her, Roxas hurriedly threw on clothes, attempting to shuffle the mess into slightly neater piles.

Once it looked as presentable as possible without having actually been cleaned, Roxas headed downstairs. He found the mayor's daughter sitting at the kitchen table, her drawing notebook open in front of her. She looked up when he entered the room.

"I sketched out a few designs before I came here," Namine said. She pushed the drawing pad across the table for him to look at. Roxas found that the effect she had on him hadn't dimmed in the least since he'd last seen her. As he sat down beside her, a smile crept across his face.

…

Kairi spread her arms out to the sky and took in a huge gulp of the ocean air, spinning in a circle while the boys watched. "It's so nice out," she sighed. "I hate being cooped up inside all day long."

"Well, maybe if you weren't so lazy, you could've cleaned your room last night so you wouldn't have to sneak out to see us," said Riku, amused at the girl's antics.

"Yeah, and it _still_ isn't clean," Sora laughed. Kairi's presence had effectively distracted him, thus bringing on the return of his cheery demeanor.

She turned on him, combative but not really angry. "It's still better than yours! And you're so lucky, Riku. Your mom doesn't care if your room's clean or not." There was no outward sign to suggest that she saw his frown or the way his eyes darkened.

"Maybe," Sora cut in, "but at least I clean mine myself. Namine won't be around to do you any favors today."

"What do you mean?"

"She's at my house, helping Roxas paint his walls."

Kairi sat up from where they'd all taken a seat on the sand. "Crap! Why didn't you say so before? Dad's coming home early, and he expects the place to be spotless!" She hurried away, giving out equally hurried goodbyes as the boys stayed where they were, laughing.

"So what _are_ you gonna do about Roxas?" Riku asked in the quiet that followed.

Sora shrugged. "I was thinking about bringing him over to your house later."

Riku snorted. "What? You want to show him he doesn't have it so bad?"

"I didn't mean it like that!" Sora said almost before the words were out of his friend's mouth, immediately regretting his own. "I just don't think he should stay locked up in his room all day."

"I know that," said Riku. "Just keep something in mind for me, okay? You can't force him out of his shell."

…

All of his furniture had been shoved to the center of his room. He was pretty sure it would usually just be moved out of the room completely, but Namine had assured him this would be fine as they were only patterning.

Personally, Roxas didn't think his squares were as nice as the blonde girl's, but he made sure they were straight at least. His walls were now a black and white checkerboard, and though he hadn't originally planned to paint his room at all, he was starting to think it looked pretty cool.

"So, Roxas," she asked. "what was Twilight Town like?" This was the first anyone had brought up where he used to live, and he surprised himself by smiling a little. The pain was there, of course, but it wasn't as hard to think about as he'd expected.

"It had the most beautiful sunset," he answered wistfully. "I know it's the same sun and everything, but when it set in Twilight Town… It was like every single building was made of gold."

"That sounds nice."

He could tell that that wasn't what she'd been asking, but he couldn't talk about his friends. Not yet. His heart still ached painfully at the mere thought of Axel and Xion. So when he set his paintbrush down beside hers, he changed the subject. "I can't believe we've been doing this for hours."

The blonde girl looked out the window where the sun was setting here, over the island. "I'm sure it's not the same to you, but I love to see the sun set over the ocean. It's harder to paint water than most people think…" She blushed, quickly snapping herself out of the wistful reverie she'd been falling into, starting to think she was beginning to sound a bit crazy, but Roxas ignored her embarrassment.

"Yeah, and the ocean's always moving," he reasoned, satisfied with the route this conversation was taking.

It was funny how certain situations seemed to just miss each other due to circumstance. Just a couple seconds before, Roxas wouldn't have minded his brother bursting into the room, interrupting their increasingly-awkward conversation, but now that they were getting back on track… Well, Sora's appearance was not only unnecessary, but somewhat unfortunate.

"Hey, guys! Oh, that looks really cool…"

Namine gave him a small smile, but Roxas just looked exasperated. He wasn't sure if it was due to the clearing of his throat, (it wasn't on purpose, he swore!) but Sora refocused his attention pretty quickly.

"Oh, right! I came to get you guys."

Namine's eyebrows furrowed. "For what?"

"We're all heading over to Riku's. We're gonna play manhunt and sleep out under the stars."

Roxas frowned. "No thanks."

"Come on, it'll be fun! Besides, you can't stay in here tonight. Not while the paint is drying."

He stayed silent, knowing his only argument included invading his brother's space. And while he was sure Sora wouldn't mind letting him stay in his room, Roxas didn't feel like owing his any favors in the future.

"It usually is a lot of fun," Namine prodded gently. So with very few other options, Roxas headed out with his beaming brother. But the real awkwardness of it all didn't seem to set in until the blonde girl mentioned that she needed to stop at her home and would head over later.

Roxas had expected his brother to continue talking, but Sora seemed content to just walk with his face tilted up to the sun, hands behind his head, eyes closed. This wore on until the silence finally broke him.

"Why don't I ever see any of the other islanders here?" Immediately Roxas wished he could take back his words because the answer was obvious. He never saw any of the other islanders because he never left his room. But Sora's eyes popped open and lit up with excitement when his brother actually initiated a conversation.

"Everyone else lives on the main island," he explained. "And when school starts again, we'll have to take a boat over every morning."

He could have left it at that, but a little friendly conversation wasn't going to kill him, right? Besides, he had to admit to being curious. "Why did our mom want to live here if this place is so empty?"

"Well, originally, only the mayor lived here. Ships can't make it to the main island because the water's so rough. So on days when ships do come to bring supplies, most of the islanders come here to help unload and distribute everything. You saw that on your first day."

True, but he hadn't really been paying attention; that first day was mostly a blur. His brother's eyes had gotten a faraway look to them.

"I guess when our parents were younger, this island used to be their place. Then when they got married they decided to stay here and keep the mayor and his wife company. Namine's mother didn't do so well with the isolation…" He seemed to trail off, unsure of how much to say.

"And what about Riku?" If it was something she didn't want told, that was fine. Roxas knew a thing or two about wanting your privacy respected.

"Riku and his mom moved in a couple years later… when his dad left."

"Must've become good friends with our mom when Dad left," Roxas commented, almost to himself. It struck him that he hadn't spoken of his father since he'd left Twilight Town. He was left with a strange, hollow feeling that he immediately tried to push down.

"Well, I don't know everything," Sora replied, "but according to Mom, she tried to be friendly. Riku's mom is a little… Well, you should see for yourself," he finished as the two stopped in front of the last house on the island.

**Review please!**

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and all of its awesomeness. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and sorry it took so long to get this one up! (Excuses/explanations for that can be found on my profile…)**


	4. Darkness

**Okay, so the delay for this chapter is less from lack of inspiration as it is lack of time. It's been a work in progress for so long, it got a little ridiculous. It got to the point where I had to just sit down and actually not procrastinate on my homework, so that while the rest of my class spent the time typing up their lab reports, I could finally complete this. Thank you for anyone who's hung in there!**

**Chapter Four: Darkness**

Riku's home was nothing like Roxas's expectations. He'd assessed the older boy (what he'd seen and heard of him) to be a bit like Axel- a little unpredictable at times, but ultimately put together. The little cottage they were standing before was anything but.

It was small- similar in structure to his own house, though probably missing the third bedroom. Kagiana had done her best to keep their home neat and tidy- she'd attempted to spruce up the outside with any tropical flowers that would grow on the island. Riku's home was on the edge of looking abandoned. There were little chips in the windows that looked to have been there for some time. The wood seemed to have a grayish tint to it.

They were waiting for Riku, who was inside. The door had been left ajar and Sora nodded to him when Roxas glanced back. The blond slowly make his way up the creaking wooden stairs. They sounded as if they were about to crumble underneath him.

Roxas made no noise to announce his presence, and he didn't feel any such greeting was necessary. The creak of the door was even louder than the moaning of the stairs. Unlike in his own house where the front door opened into the kitchen, he had just stepped into a living room.

It took a second for his eyes to adjust. The room was dim. All the shades had been pulled down over the windows to block any trace of the sunset. The only source of light was the flashing from the television. A large yet tattered armchair was placed before it, and various empty bottles littered the floor.

The woman sitting in the armchair fit the scene perfectly. Roxas figured she must be Riku's mother. He could see some of the same features, but her silver hair had faded to gray, and her turquoise eyes were dull. There was none of the fire and determination that was so often seen in Riku. The way she was slumped down in the chair and staring blankly at the screen, Roxas couldn't tell whether or not she was asleep. The more he watched, the more he realized that the scene was a little… sad. Here sat a woman who had clearly been beautiful once, and that beauty had been taken from her during the hardships she'd endured.

Roxas wasn't even aware that Riku was in the room until the television clicked off. The woman didn't move, and now the only light stemmed from the half-open doorway. Even in the darkness, Roxas could feel Riku's hard gaze on him. Neither boy said a word until, at last, Riku moved past him, stepping over the mess and out the door, leaving Roxas with no choice but to follow.

Sora was waiting for them outside. To his credit, he wasn't smiling. But his neutral expression did nothing to soothe his best friend's exasperated, nearly irritated one.

"Sora," he sighed at last. "Sometimes, I wish you would think about these plans before you go through with them."

Sora rested his arms behind his head, trying to sound nonchalant. "I didn't think you'd mind."

Riku bit the inside of his cheek, trying to quell his annoyance. "It's not about me. Maybe my mother doesn't want our family's situation paraded around like some sort of support system. And, for the record, neither do I."

From what he'd seen, Roxas doubted the older boy's mother had even been aware she'd had an audience. He was sure that Sora was very aware of Riku's mother's regular state of mind, but, wisely, his brother chose to remain silent.

The walk to the mayor's mansion was a silent one, but years of friendship was helping the tension to ease away on its own. If the girls picked up on any awkwardness in the silence, they didn't mention it. Dusk had set in. Though the sun was gone from the sky, it was not yet dark enough to commence their game of manhunt.

Instead of entering the mansion, the girls led them around back. Even in the low lighting, Roxas could see how beautiful the place was. If the inside had impressed him, he was amazed by the backyard.

Xion's mother cared for her flower garden as if it were her second child, but even that paled in comparison to the mayor's backyard. Just the fact that so many different varieties could bloom in the sand astounded him- the actual sight made him catch his breath. They bloomed in a rainbow of vivid, tropical colors, and even now Roxas was able to differentiate between the ones that only opened their petals at night. The edges of the garden had been nearly fenced in with palm trees, and in the middle was a clearing that housed a long white table and similarly colored benches. A lamp post rose up from the middle of the table, where an umbrella might sit in regards to a normal picnic table. It was none too difficult to imagine the two sisters hosting fantasy tea parties to entertain themselves when they'd been younger.

A meal had been spread out upon the table now. The options were limited, as the girls had made everything themselves, but it helped to add to the festivity of the mood.

Roxas couldn't help but smile as he took in the crudely crafted peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and powdered lemonade. It reminded him of something Xion would do. Nothing ever turned out as perfectly as they would picture it, but the scenes they put up were special all the same.

It was beautifully familiar, but the nostalgia only served to help that dark cloud settle back over his heart. For the shortest of moments, during their silent walk, Roxas had almost begun to look forward to the night ahead of them. It couldn't be described as excitement exactly… but spending time with his brother and his brother's friends had stopped looking like such a horrendous option. Now, his appetite had disappeared, along with any desire he had to be here. Who cared if he was dead the next morning from breathing in paint fumes? Anything had to be better than being stuck here within this group where he did not belong.

A hand gingerly brushed his arm and he jumped, startled out of his dreary thoughts. He turned to see Naminé smiling at him. She raised her eyebrows at his startled demeanor and expression, mouthing _Are you okay?_ He nodded stiffly before turning back to their 'feast' and attempting to act like a regular human being.

When night descended fully and the little lamp post above them clicked on, Sora jumped to his feet. It was time. After an intense tournament of rock-paper-scissors, Riku was crowned It.

In all honesty, Roxas had lost his enthusiasm for this game. Logically, participating in something so childish should have cheered him up, but he dragged his feet as Riku began to count.

Manhunt could be fun- the last time he'd played had been after a horror-movie marathon with Axel and Xion. But the thought of wandering around on an unfamiliar island in the dark was frankly unappealing.

The moon did little to light his surroundings, but he could see it reflecting off the waves, which he steered clear of. This island was small, but he remembered Sora telling him that it was split into two halves, with a secret entrance to the other side.

Before long, Roxas could hear the rushing of the waterfall and steered clear of that as well. He braced a hand on the stone wall that separated the two halves of the island.

Roxas made his way along the wall until, suddenly, it wasn't there anymore. He stumbled and came crashing to his hands and knees in the sand.

The boy heaved himself back onto his feet and felt around the wall again. He felt out a small opening beneath the moss. A secret cave?

He was too tall to walk through it normally, so Roxas got back on his hands and knees and began to crawl. He envisioned himself reaching the end and just curling up into a ball, remaining there until daylight made its reappearance.

The tunnel was low and twisty, but when he reached the end, it opened into a large cavern. Unfortunately, he was aware of this new development for one reason- someone was already there.

A small group of candles sat, lit, in the center of the room. In the glow, Roxas could make out crude, chalk drawings on the wall. Someone's shadow could be seen practically dancing around them, observing the drawings.

Roxas suddenly wondered why he'd thought it was a good idea to creep into a strange cave. A sudden image of being caught in the grasp of some serial killer flashed across his mind, and he imagined gruesome scenes and his body never being found. But, as he soon found out, the actual situation was much, much worse.

The shadow turned, spotting him crouching in the entrance. "Roxas?"

It was Kairi.

"I'm surprised you were able to find this place," she said as he grudgingly crawled out into the open.

"I'm pretty sure that's cheating," he answered flatly, gesturing to the candles.

"I'm not really here to hide," she replied, going back to observing the walls. "I just wanted to revisit our secret hideout. Sora and I used to come here all the time and draw on the walls… Riku and Naminé were welcome, too, of course, but it was mostly our place…"

"Right." Roxas wasn't sure exactly how he felt about the red-haired girl his brother was so fond of. She was always so cheerful… bright and filled with kvell. She always came off as a little _too _happy for his liking. Plus, he was almost positive that she'd planted the toy sword in his room on purpose, trying to get him to spend more time with his brother.

As if to prove this point, she said, "You know, you should really give Sora more of a chance."

He didn't get a chance to answer before a piercing scream reached their ears.

It was Naminé.

**Review please!**

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts, and I'm sorry for the wait! I've already started chapter five, so I hope to get that one up sooner rather than later. **

**Oh, and the whole thing with Riku's homelife will be gone into a little more later on, starting in the next chapter, but I'm sure you can get at least the basic idea as it is.**


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